1970 Plymouth Valiant Duster 340 - Plan B A-Body

Not every car you see in a showfield is the owner’s first choice. Among the original-owner cars, and the ones long dreamed about by their current owners, there are more than a few that were a “Plan B” at some point in time.

2/6Look familiar? ’70 Valiant Duster 340s came with the same gauge cluster (with tach and 150-mph speedometer) that Barracudas boasted from ’67-’69.

That’s the case with Michael Sexton’s ’70 Plymouth Valiant Duster 340. Back in 1989, Michael was looking for a Mopar to build, and his plan included a Dodge Dart as a project car.

One day, he spotted an ad in a Nashville newspaper for a ’70 Duster 340. Intrigued, he headed up to Music City from his home two hours away. What he found was a matching-numbers, first-year Valiant Duster 340. (The Valiant name was used on all Dusters in 1970, then shaved off by Ma Mopar for ’71 —Ed.)

Bone-stock with little visible rust, and riding on a set of bias-ply tires, it was project-ready. $600 later, it was Michael’s. “I drove it home, and it would run!” he says. “It was a complete car—a little rusty, but it was a complete, numbers-matching car.”

3/6Under the chrome, this 340’s the same one that it left Hamtramck with way back when. Chromed Edelbrock intake, Mopar valve covers, and “unsilenced” air cleaner add plenty of underhood sparkle.

Fast forward a couple of years. Michael had rebuilt the 340, but two shops entrusted to bring the ’70’s unibody back to Hamtramck-fresh condition—with Lemon Twist replacing the stock green paint—failed to do so. Also, around that time, changing priorities in life led Michael to put this project on the back burner.

It’s kind of hard to parallel park with the manual steering, but it drives down the road sweet!

When the time came to start again on the ’70, Michael thought about turning it into a race-only car, given his disappointment over the previous body “work.” However, the thought of restoring an original, numbers-matching Valiant Duster 340 proved too strong, and—eight years after he’d purchased it—the ’70 was an active project once again.

4/6With the air cleaner off, not only is the 650-cfm Holley exposed, so are a lot of reproduction items like the heater hose (and the emissions sticker on the left fenderwell).

Michael had envisioned the ’70 being “just a weekend car,” but he says they “got a little crazy” with it. With the help of a rotisserie, it was taken apart down to the bare unibody, and the previous bodywork was successfully replaced with new AMD sheetmetal before the two-stage PPG Viper Red went on. The rebuilt numbers-matching 340 went in, along with loads of N.O.S. parts sourced from Stephens Performance, reproduction interior trim from Legendary, and mechanical goodies from Mopar, Edelbrock, and Coys Wheels.

5/6Other than the Duster-logo mats and the modern sound system, you’d be hard-pressed to tell this interior shot of Michael’s ’70 from a 1970 sales brochure photo. Repro seat covers and other interior items are by Legendary.

The result is a first-year Duster that fills its owner’s original desire for a weekend car, while filling up its trunk with trophy after trophy. It’s no driven-only-off-and-on-trailers show car, either. “It drives real good,” says Michael. “It’s got manual steering and manual disc brakes on it, and it’s kind of hard to parallel park with the manual steering, but it drives down the road sweet!”

What’s next for Michael? He’s already got his next project planned, one involving an even rarer Valiant Duster 340 than this one. “I’m fixing to start another one, a pink one,” he says. “It’s a 340 car with a date-coded engine that I bought from Ted Stephens. It’s a factory FM3 (Moulin Rouge) car with a white top, white interior, and black stripe. I’ve got all the build sheets and the fender tag.”

6/6Yes they’re there. The Duster 340 stripes, that is. While the red stripe might not be visible here, it’s a small detail that really sets the car off at a show—if you notice it.

Engine: Michael started with his Duster’s original ’70 340 block, had it bored out .030-inch, then he filled it with 10.0:1 TRW pistons, an Eagle crankshaft, and a Mopar hydraulic-roller cam before the ported-and-polished factory ’70 340 heads went on. A Holley 650-cfm double-pumper sits atop a chromed Edelbrock Air Gap intake, the ignition is a Mopar electronic with a chrome box, and the original 340 exhaust manifolds breathe into 21⁄2-inch pipes and two-chamber Flowmasters.

Transmission: More of Michael’s handiwork—this time, a 727 that he added a Cheetah reverse-manual valvebody and a 2,500-stall Turbo Action converter to.

Paint/Body: Original all-steel ’70 Duster unibody with ’71-style grille and hoodscoops, rear Go-Wing, and headlight bezels by First Place Auto. Paint is two-stage PPG Viper Red that Tommy James in Lexington, Tennessee, sprayed on.

Interior: James Maness restored it with seat covers, door panels, and carpets from Legendary Auto Interiors. Gauges are the original ’70 Rallye cluster with 150-mph speedometer and tach.